Claustrophobia
by No Line on the Horizon
Summary: "There is a reason I was scared to tell you how I felt. We all have phobias, everybody at least has one. But it's a matter of not letting this phobia control you... and consume your very being." Slade's interest in psychology and physiology puts two titans at the brink of life and death. Their survival will depend on themselves... and each other. BBxR
1. Blackout

For the record, while this isn't my first story in the Teen Titans verse, it is my first story which makes use of the other titans and villains. It also is the first story which is a multi-chaptered non Sonic the Hedgehog story. A lot of firsts today huh?

So this will be an interesting story for the both of us I suppose.

Now on how updates will work, I suppose I'll try to do it every week to week and a half or 2 weeks, although I don't make any guarantees. I also have another story In the works that I want to try and continue, so I will try to even out updates between said two.

So here is chapter 1!

Claustrophobia

Chapter 1

Upon a hill overlooking the downtown area of Jump City, one would first notice that for a winter day, the weather was kind of warm. 50 degrees is pretty warm if you'd ask anybody. But once you looked out onto the cityscape itself, there would be an evident plume of smoke rising out upon the shadows of the many skyscrapers. Various screams of terror could be heard, filling the air with a choir of scared and frightened voices.

The cause of this you might ask?

Why none other than the dubbed "arch nemesis of the teen titans" Slade Wilson himself.

He was currently in hand to hand combat with his favorite of the tandem of five, Robin the boy wonder. Slade always preferred battling one on one with the so called leader of the group, knowing full and well that he was as similar to him as most of the people in the world were.

They had so much in common with one another.

Both were manipulative, both possessed similar fighting styles, and both were always determined to finish what they started. Robin also was very capable of falling into obsessiveness over his work, and Slade couldn't really blame him. After all, he was a worthy adversary, and was really honored to be such a huge part of the boy's life, even if he did want to secretly kill him.

He watched as Robin did a few backflips, landing in a perfect fighting stance after dodging a couple of strong right hands from himself. Slade prepared himself for some weapon combat, as he saw Robin draw out his trusty bo-staff, complete with the R insignia he was so known for. Of course, he had come prepared as well, drawing a bo-staff of his own which was attached to the back of his getup.

Robin was the first to lunge at him, going straight for the older man's chest. Slade never did understand why the boy didn't just go for a weaker part of his body, not that he was weak in any means. But a face shot or ankle shot would surely throw him off more than a chest shot would. Slade trained furiously to make sure that he possessed amazing upper body strength. He dodged all of the boy's attempted attacks, swings to his chest, his stomach, and his arms, all of them planned ahead of time as the hero tried to get a sense of worry into Slade's mind.

He then tried for one strong shot to the head, but of course blocked not a nanosecond too soon by his own bo-staff. He stared into Robin's mask, flashing him a sly grin, something he did here and there to try and intimidate the boy. He could sense it working, as the boy started to growl at him, letting his more natural instincts out to play. Slade loved doing that, it made fighting him so much more enjoyable.

Robin pushed hard against his nemesis' bo-staff with his own, and surprisingly pushed Slade back onto the cold dusty pavement of the alley that they were in. Stunned for a few second, Slade looked up to see Robin at full sprint, and using leverage of the brick wall, pushed off to whack the staff right into the side of the wall, sending Slade into it with a sick thud. Purely out of instinct, he swung his own staff straight into the cloud of dust and debris in front of him, knowing that Robin would waste no time trying to attack once again. And he was right, as the cold piece of metal connected with the boy's stomach, sending him flipping and eventually sliding into the wall directly opposite from Slade. He had to admit, the boy was getting stronger and more agile every time he faced him. He was a worthy adversary to himself.

He felt the cold mask on his face, and realized that the shot Robin made not too long ago had made it crack a sizeable amount. Slade could feel the air hit his face, and it felt pretty good, but was surprising as he didn't expect such a powerful hit to come out of Robin, as the boy wasn't that built yet at his age. Then again, perhaps he did underestimate him a bit.

Robin coughed before rising slowly to his feet once again, bo-staff still gripped tightly between his fingers.

"Well well, all that practice has been paying off, hasn't it child?" Slade asked, adding child just for the pure enjoyment of pissing Robin off. Oh did he love to do that.

"Aren't you going to beat me more Slade," he growled in response. Slade couldn't help but grin at the boy's attempt to intimidate him.

"Could I? Sure. But right now, I've had my fun today. Besides… I have some more important business to take care of."

Robin raised an eyebrow and before he could even begin to follow after the man, Slade threw some smoke screens on the ground and made a quick getaway.

Robin stood there in relative anger and disappointment. But he couldn't help but be a bit confused.

Just what was Slade up to?

…

Robin went to meet up with the rest of his team, with the assumption that they were successful in their defeat of a newly strengthened cinderblock. He knew that the beast would be a bit of a challenge for the team of four to take down, but also knew that if they did it before, why couldn't they go and do it again? Besides, Robin had to go and track down Slade when he saw the man out of the corner of his eye.

He returned to see a pile of rock and dust, and smiled in discovery of the titan's triumph.

"I see you guys were able to handle yourselves pretty well without me."

The rest of the group turned towards their leader, half of them in good spirits, but the other half wearing a look of anxiety mixed with confusion.

"Oh yes! We did good in kicking Slade's butt right Cyborg!?" Starfire exclaimed, getting happy smiles from their masked leader.

"We sure did. My upgrade to my sonic cannon did wonders on these bots. It's as if they didn't know what hit 'em," remarked the half bionic member, wearing a grin of satisfaction at his technological prowess.

It was Raven and Beast Boy who wore those odd expressions.

"Robin I'd like for Cyborg and yourself to run a couple of tests on Beast Boy and myself," the empath began, "When we were in combat, we both felt a sharp pain in our ears, and we both know that neither of us got hit there during battle, so we don't understand where it came from."

"Yeah, and I have this annoying ringing in my ears, it's not painful or anything, but it's like a mosquito," Beast Boy commented, fiddling with his pointy green ears as if something would pop out and make everything all better.

"Friend Beast Boy, and friend Raven if you have this same problem, why don't Cyborg and I have this as well?"

Robin realized that Starfire was right in that observation. If Slade were to do something to the titans, why would he only target a certain amount of them? Surely it would be easier if he targeted the five of them and take all five of them out. Unless, there was something more than he just did not know at the present time.

The boy wonder thought back in time to at the end of his unsuccessful battle with his rival.

_Besides… I have more important business to take care of._

What could Slade need to be doing which involved him skipping out on a fight with the titans? After all, Robin knew that the titans were Slade's adversaries in his conquest for taking over Jump City and causing insurmountable havoc to everybody he could. But he also knew that the titans were Slade's main blockade in achieving his goals.

Slade was also the kind of villain who would always make sure he left his victims weak and battered, but still able to comprehend what had happened to them. This time around however, Slade merely left Robin in the middle of one of their countless battles, and all and all while Robin was not hurt very much in the slightest. He forgot the last time he was able to walk away from a battle with Slade seemingly unscathed.

"Cyborg, Raven has a point and I guess it wouldn't hurt to maybe run a couple of tests once we get back to the tower. Take a little bit of blood from each and have it analyzed. Slade seemed to be hiding something and I want to be extra cautious at the moment."

Cyborg and Raven nodded, but Beast Boy seemed to take a surreal amount of terror when the words blood test were mentioned close to one another.

"Uhh… did you say blood test? Like the one with needles?" The green changeling questioned, a feeling of fear settling in the pit of his stomach.

"Sorry Beast Boy, but I just want to make sure. It's just a prick in the arm, and that's it."

The changeling's ears drooped, but he complied, knowing it was in the interest of Raven and the team as a whole to find out if there was indeed something strange occurring with himself and the empath. He shuddered at the thought of being sick with some type of unknown disease, and also started to wonder if he would go deaf as a result of said condition.

The group of five set off back to their humble abode, the T car speeding off into the sunset as a tiny machine appeared in the now abandoned battle scene. The little contraption seemed to be searching for something…

* * *

Something just didn't feel right.

Now I don't know if that was my emotion sensing ability was just going haywire, but I knew that whatever I was feeling didn't sit right in the pit of my stomach.

On the outside, I felt perfectly normal to say the least, save a couple of little scars here and there from the relatively easy battle we had with the sladebots earlier. But there was something that sort of confused me a bit about their overall attack scheme.

Normally, the bots would try their best to hurt us, and to try and injury us or something of the sort. This occasion, they merely were being pests. The majority of them tried to take out attention away from something it seemed and it showed. I don't know about the rest of the team, but I actually did get distracted from them and didn't exactly try to look for Slade. I also didn't notice Robin's absence from the fight, and I felt a bit of guilt since something bad could have happened to him without her realization at first.

Trying to stop my mind from wandering into a billion different clouds of ideas, I moved myself on one of the beds in the infirmary so that I was indian-style. Softly so the other pair in the room wouldn't be distracted, I began to chant my signature mantra, trying to calm my nerves down. Slowly I closed my eyes and took a deep breath…

"OWW!"

The changeling's sudden outburst took me out of my focus, and I opened my eyes to see a look of pain and distress on his face, not to mention one of fear.

"Sorry BB, but Robin's orders. That and we'd all like to be sure nothing is wrong with you and Rae." She rolled her eyes at the use of that nickname.

Overtime due to Beast Boy's constant usage, I started to actually dismiss my normal annoyance over the nickname, and even liked it when I was called that. If they cared enough about me to bother giving me one, that was enough persuasion for me to let them keep it.

Looking over, I watched as he gritted his teeth a bit and shut his eyes tight as Cyborg quickly took a sample of blood from him. I wondered how someone like Beast Boy could be so worried and afraid over something as harmless as a little needle to draw blood. He's been in life threatening situations, has had far worse injuries, survived the end of the world, and so on. Yet a needle turned out to be his kryptonite.

But at the same time, I could understand the relatively simple phobia Beast Boy had over the little metal object. Everybody had some kind of phobia, all 5 of us each harbored one. While I wouldn't admit it at first, thunderstorms hit a usually untouched nerve, and I never did figure out why I was always a bit antsy and uptight when I heard the loud crackle of lightning among the landscape of the city. They did remind me a bit of when Trigon became free, and the thought of him ever returning did scare the living daylights out of me. But I knew that there was no way this could actually happen, so I dismissed it.

"I feel lightheaded… I think I'm going to lie down right here..," and with that statement Beast Boy fainted onto the ground, happening to fall right at the base of my feet as I had just stood up. I caught him before he hit the ground, and held up upright under my own power, since he was basically out of it at this point.

Cyborg just grinned at me with that characteristic smile of his, as he watched me stand there and hold the smaller boy in my arms.

"Aww… it likes you," he cooed teasingly, getting a glare from me, but that did nothing the phase him.

"I'll be back in a second, I'm going to put him in his bed for the time being," I replied. He nodded and began to run a few tests on the small vial of Beast Boy's blood he just obtained.

I picked him up bridal style, and only realized just how much heavier he was in the span of a year in a half. The boy had definitely gained a lot of muscle thanks to all the training, and wasn't the little doom patrol member she remembered when they first met. I couldn't help but blush a tad looking down at his face, as he seemed to switch into a more peaceful sleep. His face looked very calm and serene as he his chest rose and fell gently. Leave it to Beast Boy to collapse from a measly blood test.

Looking at him while walking made me nearly forget to watch where I was going, and I nearly crashed into Starfire as she rounded the corner from his room. She looked at me with confusion and then down at Beast Boy before breaking into a fit of worry.

"Oh no! Friend Beast Boy, is he alright?!" The tamaranian princess asked, I could see the fear in her voice that something was wrong.

"He's fine Star. He just doesn't seem to take blood tests very well," I remarked, watching her face go from worry, to relief, and then to its normally happy self.

"Oh okay. So did he faint I'm guessing?" I nodded in response and motioned to his room which wasn't too far.

"Do you need help carrying him to his room?" I shook my head, and the tamaranian smiled and zoomed along on her way.

I used my powers to open up the door and slowly walked inside, cautiously attempting to avoid the piles of clothes and other items of Beast Boy's thrown about the room. You wouldn't believe how badly I would have wanted to cover my nose to stop the stank odor coming from his room. It was nearly causing me to gag, I couldn't even fathom how he was able to sleep in here, or even stay in here for an extended amount of time. I also couldn't understand how he didn't trip on anything when he woke up, or perhaps he memorized where the piles of stuff were located on the floor, that is, if he actually had a floor under all this stuff. I began to doubt its existence.

Gingerly stepping to avoid falling on my face, I weaved in and out of the things around the room to make it right in front of the changelings' bed. I pulled off the blanket and sheets and placed the now sleeping form of the boy into the bed. Well maybe man would be a better way to describe him now, as his size was indeed bigger than when we first met. I could hear lust giggling in the background and merely glared at the kinds of perverted thoughts she might be having in that little head of hers.

I closed the door on my way out softly enough where it wouldn't wake the boy up. Then again, he was a heavy enough sleeper to the point where even if I slammed the door, he wouldn't have budged the slightest. Maybe it's the Panda in him which causes him to sleep so soundly, or some other animal which enjoys its sleep so much.

Cyborg greeted me with a smile once I arrived back at the medical bay, as I had yet to get my blood taken. I made note of how Beast Boy and myself would probably have pretty unique blood to look at if you were into that sort of medical thing. I mean for one thing, I'm half demon, so who knows what differences there could be. And Beast Boy can change into just about any animal he desires, so he could very well have blood which is a hybrid of all these animals.

"Promise me you won't fall to the ground like BB did?" the half bionic teen asked, still wearing that same old grin he had on beforehand. I merely rolled my eyes in response.

I felt a slight pinch as the needle pierced my skin, and could feel as the blood flowed from my arm into the chamber of the syringe as Cyborg pulled back on the plunger. Other than the pinch, I didn't really feel any sort of pain that was really out of the ordinary. So pain alone wasn't the reason that the green shape shifter was afraid of needles. Whatever the reason was, curiosity started to overwhelm me and I even thought about asking the boy when he woke up. I decided against it though, since maybe it might be an issue he'd rather not discuss.

I heard some peeling of plastic and film to discover a tiny little bandage put upon the small dot sized incision where the needle went through.

"Is this really necessary? I'm not five years old."

He merely chuckled in response.

"Well we have to make sure you don't get infected. After all, all it takes is any cut to get infected, even a small one like so," and with that he gestured to the bandage.

I could feel myself grin ever so slightly at Cy's remark, but not enough to where he really noticed.

"Whatever you say…" With that I leapt off the table and went on my way, leaving my teammate to analyze and collect data. Lord knows what kinds of things he'll find in my blood.

It was nighttime now, and fittingly a good time for a cup of tea, so I set out to the kitchen to make myself one. I figured the best way to end the night would be to curl up in bed with a good book and a cup of tea. I mean it's what every girl loves to do right?

I continued floating towards the living room when I suddenly felt a painful throbbing near the same ear that felt strange earlier on. I stopped floating and landed on my feet, both of my hands shot up to my ear.

It was the last thing I remember doing before everything seemed to dissipate into darkness…

* * *

And what a good way to leave the first chapter! Cliffhangers are always interesting right?

Please, please review, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

See you next chapter


	2. Heart to Heart

I've gotten plenty of follows so far, so I'm pretty stoked about that. And while four reviews isn't a lot, I'll expect that to increase. BTW, the only way for that to go up is for you all to use that little box on the bottom of the chapter. Trust me, it's like chocolate to me. And I like chocolate.

So here is the next installment. Enjoy!

Claustrophobia

Chapter 2

I woke up to a scene that was quite familiar to me. The smell, the piles of clothes and such dotted all around could only mean one thing.

Somebody had put me back in my own room.

I sat up so that I was sitting on the side of my bed, and rubbed my eyes, trying to rid myself of that ever so lovely sleepy feeling. I would have loved to go right back to sleep, trust me, but I realized it wasn't actually night time. Glancing over at my clock on the side of my bed, I realized that I had indeed slept through the majority of the night, even though the last time I remembered being awake was yesterday afternoon. I don't remember even getting up during the night for dinner, which must have worried the rest of the group.

Speaking of which, I was starving. I guess it was breakfast time right?

I hopped off the bed, though less animated than usual because I wasn't sure if the dizzy and faint feelings of yesterday afternoon were still present. I can't believe that all of this happened over a measly needle for a blood-test. How would I ever keep my manly exterior with something like that happening? I might as well dress in a pink version of my uniform and I'd still look manlier than fainting from a blood test.

I again glanced over at my clock and did a double take.

It read in its little digital font, 5:30am.

5:30am?!

Wow, this definitely beat my earliest wake up time ever by at the very least 3 hours. I bet I'm the first one up!

I decided to go about in my normal morning routine, which started with taking a shower. Getting my robe out, I undressed and slipped it on, basking in the warmth and comfort of the silk. If I wanted to be lazy, I'd just walk around wearing this, but then again Robin would probably bark about how it wasn't appropriate. Sure Robin, I'm going to take fashion sense from the boy in green and red spandex.

Strolling over to the bathroom proved much quieter than usual. Normally I didn't tend to wake up till like 10am or later, so by then everybody would be up and about, and I could hear the faint screams of Cyborg and Robin duking out on the game station. Today however, you could hear a pin drop and it would sound like somebody dropped a glass vase. It was sorta freaky in its own freaky way.

To my expectations, the shower was vacant of any of my friends, and there didn't seem to be any trace of them in the vicinity. However, the shower did seem a bit more humid than normal, so somebody must of used it not too long ago. I walked in and flipped on the light and proceeded to adjust the water for my liking. Stripping myself of the robe once it reached the right temperature, I stepped in and let the refreshingly warm water cascade down my body.

I began to think about who exactly carried me over to my bed. It definitely wasn't Cyborg or Robin, as they would have merely left me there to sleep right on top of everything on my bed. No, my bed was surprisingly free of any of my clothes, and I was tucked in, I could tell. Starfire was a possibility, but I don't think it was her because I don't remember her being in the infirmary during the period when I was getting my blood tested.

Eliminating those three left a clear answer.

Raven.

I paused both in my mind and outside of it, as I was soaping myself up. Of all people to worry and care enough about me to not only carry me to my room, but clean up my bed, and tuck me in, it was the dark girl who showed the least emotion? I suppose that could very well be the case, even if it did surprise me on how much care she showed. While that might not have been much, I knew that it was a very big deal to somebody like Raven to show that much care towards another. I smiled whole heartily at her kind gesture in helping me. Somebody would definitely be receiving a thank you later.

As I was toweling myself off, I began to think about what exactly Cyborg could find in our blood, and what exactly he was looking for. Perhaps Slade implanted us with alien DNA. Or we could be turning into muck monsters! Or something out of the ordinary.

Nah, it had to be something not normally in one's blood he was looking for. Then again, it might be kinda hard to accomplish this with DNA like Raven's and myself. After all, the girl is half demon, and I can morph into just about any kind of animal in existence. So I guess I had a piece of every animal's DNA if logic serves me right.

Back in my room I decided to throw on some sweats and a t-shirt, well one of the clean ones at the very least. I should make a note that I would have to do laundry later if I actually wanted to have some clean clothes to wear tomorrow. I didn't feel like putting on my normal uniform, as normally for some unknown reason, villains didn't seem to want to bother with us on weekends. And it was a Saturday morning, not to mention it was barely 6am. If I were to venture a guess, the majority of them would still be sleeping.

Clean and dressed, I strolled to the living room not expecting anybody else awake at this hour. Having a quiet living room all to myself seemed rather enjoyable for a change, I can't remember the last time that has happened, or if it has ever happened, well, ever.

To my surprise, I found Raven sitting on a stool by the counter, a cup of herbal tea steaming steadily into the air. Also to my surprise, the girl was merely sitting and looking out the window at the scene of the sunrise, no book to occupy her presence.

I was sure she could sense my arrival and got exactly that when she turned my direction. Her eyes showed surprisingly a sense of worry and discomfort, two emotions I wasn't used to seeing radiate from her.

"Good morning Rae."

"Good morning, you seem to be feeling better after last night. Do you remember me carrying you to bed?" she questioned, wondering if I had realized that she had taken care of me last night.

"Remembrance of that, nah, none actually. I just remember everything going black in the infirmary, and then the next thing I saw was my bed this morning," I said, with a slight chuckle in my voice as I attempted to lighten the mood.

Before she could respond, I continued, "But I was able to determine that it was you who carried me back to my room."

She seemed quite surprised, another aspect I never see of Raven. "Really, how could you figure that out?"

"Well, my bed was clean. And not to mention that somebody took the care to tuck me into bed."

I swear, I think I saw the ever slightest of blushes appear on her face as I said that.

"I assumed that you would be more comfortable if you slept in a clean and made bed," she responded in her normal monotonic vocal pattern.

"I guess you're right, I did sleep like a baby all night. Thank you Rae, I owe you one."

She smiled a tad at my expression of gratitude. She seemed to be much more expressive toward me as I talked to her. I'm not sure if it was due to me being the only one up, or if she was just having an off day.

However, I still could see a glint of worry and discomfort in her eye. Normally I would dismiss this so I wouldn't be too nosey, but I cared enough about her where I wanted to help her if something was wrong. After all she had gone out of her way to help me when I needed it, the last thing I could do is return the favor.

"Is something the matter?"

She jerked her face towards me a bit, seemingly shocked that she wasn't able to hide her emotions from me at the time.

"Don't worry about me, I'm perfectly fine," she answered. Nope, I wasn't going to buy this again. I knew there was something up.

"Raven…"

"Right after I took you to your room in order to sleep off the dizziness and effects from when you fainted I went back to the infirmary so I could get mine. Literally minutes after I got it done, I collapsed in the hallway going back to my own room."

When she mentioned collapsing herself, I finally became truly worried about not just myself, but her condition as well. It turns out that this whole issue of our ears having this weird ringing noise wasn't something out of the ordinary. Surely it couldn't be just a coincidence that both of us fainted minutes after both having a simple blood test. Something was up, and whatever it was, it scared me a bit more than I would have liked it to.

We sat in silence for a second trying to sort out our thoughts.

"So does this mean that there really something seriously wrong?" I asked cautiously, not to overly annoy the half demon sitting in the stool next to me.

Raven didn't respond, and it looked like she was in deep thought. Her violet eyes showed a flurry of deep emotions as she stared blankly out the huge windows and to the rest of Jump city, which was brightened by a beautiful sunrise.

"To be honest… I don't really know. I have no idea what is going to happen. Perhaps it was a coincidence?" She responded.

The violet haired empress continued to stay in deep thought, and I just let her be, as I was actually thinking myself. Cyborg and the others would probably tease me for even the thought of me having deep and conscience thoughts, and I didn't mind, normally I was the carefree individual who let their actions come before their thoughts. But I'm not stupid by any means, I just choose to be the goofball type for the sake of everybody else.

However, this wasn't one of those times. I was dealing with something which couldn't be solved with something as simple as an action, something that required me to think about the ramifications of different choices which are an aspect of thinking I normally had the ability to avoid. That might be the most intelligent sounding sentence I have ever created, even if it was in my thoughts.

My focus drifted onto the girl before me. I didn't even notice till now, but her hand and mine had become intertwined together, causing me to widen my eyes for a few seconds in disbelief. I knew that Raven wasn't exactly the touchiest feely person in the world, in fact, she was probably farther away than most when it came to that sort of thing. But nonetheless, here she was, holding onto my hand. I could feel her pulse slower a bit as she held my hand, while at the same time mine started to increase. I wasn't really sure why, but I sort of felt some anxiety while sitting there with her, which was strange to say the least. Normally I didn't really care how people saw me or how I behaved. To consider myself the happy go lucky guy who acts because he cares would probably work best to describe me.

"Raven… do I annoy you?"

I am being completely serious when I say that I have no idea where I got this question from. It just seemed to appear out of thin air. Raven cocked her head in my direction, and I knew that even though she could sense emotion radiating from me, she still wore a mask plastered with confusion.

"Why do you ask?"

"I don't know really why I asked that," I confessed the truth.

She seemed to be pondering her response for a moment.

"Well, I mean truthfully you can be a pain when you continually pester me. But in the end, I guess I can't really stay mad at you for long. After all, I figured that this was your way of showing that you cared about me and everybody else."

I looked at her dumbfounded. And here I was, thinking that nobody understood all my little pranks and teases. Apparently she had all along, and then again, Raven was easily the smartest out of all of us. Sure, Cyborg may have a ton of technological knowledge, but Raven had so much knowledge in so many topics where to debate with her on an issue and win was borderline impossible. I guess all that reading does come in good use.

Regardless of that, I realized that this may be one of the first times I had a heart to heart conversation with the half demon.

I decided to delve deeper into her thoughts.

"How are you so sure?"

I swear she smiled as she listened.

"Well, if you were to tease and annoy me for just the enjoyment of yourself, that would make you sort of a bully. You're much too little to be a big bad bully," Raven responded, with a little bit of a teasing tone at the end of her response.

"For your information, I've grown much in size since you first met me. So I'm not the smallest member of us now, and besides, I'm taller than you now." I crossed my arms and made a face signaling imminent victory in this conversation.

"Well you should know that men are on average normally taller than women."

See, told you. There isn't really a chance of me winning an argument with Raven.

"We aren't exactly considered normal you know," I countered.

"I suppose, but it's not like the demon half in me caused me to grow to 10 feet tall."

"Yeah, a 10 foot tall Raven would be interesting to try and live with. You wouldn't be able to walk through a doorway without hitting your head."

She snickered a bit, and I was chuckling to myself at the thought of a massively tall Raven standing with the four of us as Robin shouted his signature "Titans go." I can only imagine the facial expressions of some of the villains that we normally face. Someone like Control Freak would definitely wet themselves if this were to happen.

We sat together and simply observed the sunlight radiating through the living room, lighting up the sofa and television in a nice bright glow. Raven seemed to enjoy watching the sun rise up into the sky, even though I always thought of her to be a dark and brooding individual. However, this was one of the occasions where she simply seemed like a normal person. I could tell she was doing her best to mask her emotions like she was used to doing. I wish she would just let them all loose someday, I would like to see the Raven who didn't need to worry and fret over the half demon inside her depths. Then again, I really liked this Raven exactly how she was.

It also occurred to me that I actually really enjoyed having a conversation with her. Just a normal one on one conversation about what was on our minds, no teasing involved. It was rather nice for a change. I mean sure, I love to pester her just to see what type of reaction she'll give me, but right now it was just genuine kindness and care that she was showing towards me.

I could tell that she was still unsteady about something.

She was the first to break the silence.

"Do you ever wonder why you are where you are?"

I had honestly no idea how to respond to this sort of a question. This was one of those delve deep into your mind and really think type things. Weren't we just joking with one another not too long ago?

I might as well take a shot at it.

"I believe in fate Raven," I began, she seemed surprise that I used her name in such a formal manner, "I've always thought that wherever I'm taken and whatever is given to me or whatever may happen, there is a reason for it. When I got my powers, I didn't want to just accept that my life was ruined and that there was no way I could be normal.

I accepted it, and decided that these morphing abilities were something that was given to me for a reason. So I ended up in the doom patrol. And then I ended up with here.

Was it destined to happen, I think so. I wouldn't have it any other way. At this point, I think these powers truly make me who I really am you know?"

Raven seemed to realized, and did myself, that I had just given her my beliefs and reasons for living on a plate and put it in front of her. I don't think I ever remember telling anybody how I felt before. It felt a bit foreign to say the least, but in a way it was almost a relief to finally unscrew the cork that was keeping this inside.

Part of me wanted to say all of that just because I had the opportunity to for the first time. However, at the same time, the other part of me thought that maybe if I shared all of this, Raven might feel some compulsion to talk more about herself than anybody has ever known before.

For now, she still seemed a bit stunned.

"I have to say, I would have never expected you to be complex." She said, a soft, yet still uneasy smile emanating from her face. Any form of expression from her I consider to be a point in my book in getting her to open up.

"People are right, never judge a book by its cover, as cliché as that seems," She continued, "Thanks for talking to me. I know that these conversations aren't something you like having."

I frowned a bit at the last remark. No, I wasn't mad, I was more so a bit taken aback that she would assume that I never liked having a deep one on one conversation with someone.

"Truth be told, I never really got the chance to speak my thoughts this much. Thanks for that."

She nodded and smiled in return.

I think I could have sit with her and chatted all day, but of course our alarm had to go and ruin the peace, just like always.

* * *

The room was bathed in a light but not overly bright glow as he walked into the room. Motion activated lighting was one of the perks in his new base of operations, and while it didn't really have any significance other than making lazier people more lazy, he did find the simple technology quite nice.

Before a large desk equipped with advanced technologies of a wide array was a wall made up of various monitors, the majority of them off for the present time, but a few of them were showing pictures and video clips. One was showing a live video feed of Dr. Arthur Light, who was attempting to charge up his suit with the use of an antenna from one of the taller skyscrapers of Jump City.

Slade shook his head at the pathetic man who he supposed he could label as an ally. But then again, the man would be no match for his abilities, so there wouldn't be much of a point in ever trying to team with the fellow villain. Besides, facing the titans alone allowed him to have full enjoyment for himself.

He watched on another television as a small robotic transporter sped its way through the desert landscape, knowing full and well that there wasn't any way that it would be spotting. He had constructed the robot to have one of the best cloaking systems he's ever created, so the little machine was virtually indistinguishable from the landscape. In fact, it resembled a rolling tumbleweed, something nobody would think twice about doing.

Slade went to his own personal computer and brought the information of two of five titans onto a duo of screens before him, along with a simple blueprint.

He merely smiled to himself as he looked it over.

* * *

Whoa boy, what does Slade have planned here?

Also, I hoped you liked the little back and forth between Raven and Beast Boy. I really enjoyed writing that part, and you'll definitely be seeing a lot of that type of thing as the story motions on.

Adopted from a fellow author, time for the first mail bag!

**Moving Mountains**

_I really enjoyed this first chapter, especially your characterization of all the Titans. I'm intrigued to find out what'll happen next so please update soon!_

Thanks for that. Characterizations are one of my strong points, I like writing about all the different elements to a person.

**ravenfan253**

_I like this please do update asap_

Hopefully, this is close enough to asap for ya!

**TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne**

_You got us started with a mystery here. Nice that Raven's phobia is lightning. There was an episode (Fear Itself) where she was startled awake by lightning. I guess she wouldn't be good friends with Billy Batson (AKA Captain Marvel)_

Yeah I remember there was an episode with that in it. I decided to use it for the overall theme of the story which will become more apparent later on.

** 16**

_Interesting! I'm not sure where this story is going, but I definitely wanna find out!_

And with time you'll definitely find out. I have a lot of things planned :)


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